In Which a Routine Is Disrupted
by slytherinslut13
Summary: One small change- a simple hug with a god- turns Aurora Sinistra's and Severus Snape's worlds not only upside-down, but inside out and 103.45 degrees backwards, as well. Rather long one-shot, starts during March, HBP. Enjoy, Read, and Review, please!


Aurora

Every morning is the same for me. Severus will wake up, kiss me, and take a shower. I'll lie in bed for another few minutes before getting up as well, and then join him in the shower. After that, we get out (of the shower) and get dressed. Then we go to breakfast and eat. It's as simple as that.

However, this morning was different. Instead of him waking me up, I woke him when I rushed to the bathroom, my small hand clamped firmly over my mouth. I hugged the porcelain god, also known as the toilet, as I retched. Soon, I felt his cool hands on my neck as he swept my curly auburn away from my face.

As soon as I finished regurgitating my dinner- which was much tastier the first time, I assure you- I curled up on the bathroom floor.

"Would you like me to make your excuses?" Severus asked me. I nodded weakly. He carried me back to the bed and set me gently down on it before summoning a bucket in case I felt ill again. I groped my bedside stand for my wand, which he handed to me, along with a glass of water. I drank it down greedily, the cool water soothing the burning of my throat and washing away the taste of my stomach acid. He kissed my cheek once more before asking if I needed anything else.

"No, thank you. Just tell them that I'm not well." I smiled up at him before curling back into a ball on the bed.

"I'll check on you whenever I can." He strode out of the room, his black cloak billowing behind him impressively.

* * *

Severus

_I wonder what's wrong with Aurora. _I wondered as I left the rooms, my eyebrows furrowed. _She seemed well last night. She ate the same thing I did, and I feel fine._ I shrugged. She probably caught the flu from one of the dunderheads walking around in the school. I hope that she felt better soon. I entered the staff room, and saw that I was early. Only Vector was there. I sneered at my colleague as I poured some tea for myself. Her only reaction was to tell me that the tea was a bit stronger than usual. I ignored her as the rest of the staff trickled in.

"Where is Aurora?" Vector asked, looking around. Everyone shrugged, but Minerva looked at me. She knew about our relationship after finding Aurora in my rooms, wearing my shirt, one night when Minerva had come to talk to me about a student. There wasn't really any good excuse in that situation, so we told her the truth. I cleared my throat.

"I believe that Aur- Sinistra isn't feeling well." I drawled. Vector's eyebrows shot up.

"How on earth would you know that? Doesn't she live in the Astronomy Tower? If I'm not mistaken, you live in the dungeons." She said, looking at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and didn't answer her.

"I wonder if she needs me to check on her." Pomfrey said, looking in the general direction of the Astronomy Tower. I blinked slowly, wondering what to say.

"I don't think that would be necessary. When I left, she was sleeping again." I said, immediately regretting my words. My sentence sounded very... improper. I heard someone chocking on their tea to my left. I turned my head to look at Vector. "Yes?" I sneered at her.

"Sorry, I just thought it sounded like... never mind." She said, blushing a bit.

"No, Victoria, please continue." Poppy said. I glared at her. The entire staff room turned their attention to Vector, who was blushing even more now.

"I feel like it isn't really my place to..." she started, but more teachers asked her what it was. I waited for the blow to come. She had figured it out. Vector took a breath and glanced at me apologetically. I avoided her eyes. "It sounded as if Severus here had either gone up to Aurora's rooms, or had already been with her." She said quickly.

"Well, he hadn't gone to see her. There would be no point. Also, he was finishing his tea when I came in, which makes it seem that he was in here for a while before this. He couldn't have had time to go all the way up there, then come back down." Squeaked Flitwick, who had entered a few minutes after me.

"But why on earth would she be with him?" asked Slughorn, and Burbage nodded her assent.

"I am here, you know." I growled at them. They stopped talking about Aurora and me as I strode out for the Great Hall an breakfast. They continued looking at me throughout the day, and I was sure that they were still wondering what was going on.

* * *

When I checked in on Aurora after lunch, I found Minerva already down there. She and Aurora were chatting over tea and biscuits.

"Hello Severus!" Aurora said cheerfully.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked as I took a seat next to her.

"Much!" she said. "I'm glad I have no day classes today, it really has helped." I nodded, happy that she was better.

Minerva looked at her watch. "I really must go, I'm sorry Aurora." She said, standing up. Aurora smiled at the older woman.

"Thank you for the tea and help, Minerva." She said, getting up. Minerva whispered something to Aurora, who nodded.

"What did she say?" I asked, wrapping my arms around Aurora once Minerva had left.

"She told me to drink this tea if I felt sick again." She said, holding up a box of tea. I nodded once before putting it in the kitchen.

"Are you going to your practical lessons?" I asked her.

She thought it over. "Yes, I think I will."

* * *

Aurora

I felt fine as I prepared the telescopes for my third year's practical lesson. They were supposed to map Saturn tonight, and it was a good night to do so. The planet glowed softly as the class- Slytherin and Hufflepuff- trooped in. I told them what they were doing as they shivered in their thick cloaks in the unusually cold late March wind.

"Professor." Whined one Hufflepuff girl. "Why can't we do this some other time? It's cold out." I glared at her, feeling inexplicably angry with the silly bint.

"Because," I snarled "The next possible time to see Saturn this clearly is in mid- August. Feel free to leave now, but you'll have to re-do it at that time. I'll owl you so you know when to come." The girl took a step back, surprised at my tone, as I was normally very mild- mannered.

"Sorry Professor." She said quietly.

"Well?" I snapped at the class, still peeved. "Get to work!" They hurried to their telescopes, some looking at me in awe. However, my bad mood was soon replaced by nausea. I clamped my mouth tight to try and stop the vomit rushing up, but I could feel myself getting clammy and pale until I finally gave in to the bile.

"Excuse me for a moment." I gasped out before running for the bathroom. I could feel their stares as I rushed out. I made it to the one- person bathroom just in time to release my small dinner into the toilet. I stayed there, gasping, for several minutes, completely forgetting about my class until someone knocked.

"Professor?" asked a small voice. "Are you done?" I got up and washed out my mouth before opening the door. It was the Hufflepuff that had annoyed me earlier. I smiled at her.

"Yes. Sorry about that." I returned to the class, all of who were staring at me. "Sorry, I haven't been feeling well lately." I explained, putting a smile on my face. They nodded before continuing to draw the planet. I decided to sit down and tried to not speak for the rest of the lesson. Fortunately, no other problems presented themselves for the rest of the class.

Once the last Slytherin had left, I made my queasy way to the staff room for some plain tea. However, Minerva was there, and she looked up as I entered.

"Not feeling well again?" she asked sympathetically. I nodded. "What was wrong? Stomach or head?"

"Let me put it this way- I had a nice date with the porcelain god during my last class." I explained, a small smile on my lips. Her brow contracted over her teacup.

"Oh dear." She said simply.

"Yes. Why are you here so late?" It suddenly struck me as odd that she would be in the staff room at two in the morning.

"Richard got called away about an hour ago." She crinkled her nose in annoyance.

"Ahh." I said as I sipped my tea. Minerva studied me in a very Dumbledore- like manner for some time as I drank the hot liquid.

"Aurora." She said suddenly. "How long have you been with Severus?" I looked at her.

"Erm... about three years, unless you count when we were..." I cleared my throat. "Friends with benefits. That would make it about five years."

"And you moved when?"

"Two years ago during the summer. Why?" I asked.

"Just a little thought that's been wiggling my mind. Forgive me for the... personal nature of this question, but when did you start sleeping with him?"

I blushed. Severus and I had kind of started having sex... "About five years ago." I muttered. Minerva snorted into her tea, a smile playing on her lips.

"Okay. Are you safe?" She said.

"How... how the hell do you say that without blushing at all?" I gaped at her. If it were me, I would've been brick red by now.

"Two daughters, three granddaughters, and ten students worth of practice, Aurora." She said, patting my knee. "That's how. Now, as for my original question..."

I considered for a moment. "Yes, we both are." I said finally. "I'm sure of it."

She said. "Alright, just checking." She got up and left, offering no explanation for her sudden inquiry.

"What was that all about?" I asked myself. I shrugged and downed my tea before heading back to Severus' rooms. He was fast asleep by the time I got there, and I smiled at his sleeping form, but frowned when I saw his left arm. His Dark Mark was black against his pale arm. I eased myself into bed next to him, and kissed his arm. He put his arm around me, still asleep, and I snuggled into him.

* * *

We continued the next few weeks like this. I would throw up in the morning, teach my classes, eat dinner, throw up during my night classes, go to sleep, and repeat. As I had bad experiences with Healers- and hospitals in general- I refused point blank to go to one and find out what was wrong with me. I put it down as a bad case of the flu, but Severus wanted me to go. I eventually threatened him with castration because he kept trying to make me go to the Healer, and he gave in.

* * *

About two months (May now) after the throwing up started, I was looking at my naked reflection in Severus' mirror. I noticed a small bump on my tummy, and turned sideways to look at it closer. Yep, there it was- small, but if you looked closely, you could tell it was there. I frowned at it. It couldn't be... No, we were safe every single time. Right? I continued to stare at it until Severus came up behind me.

"Not that I mind having a beautiful, naked woman in my rooms, but what are you doing?" he whispered in my ear. "You've been there nearly ten minutes." I didn't say anything, merely pointed at my tummy, glaring at it.

He examined the offensive part of my body. "What? I don't see anything." I shook my head in exasperation- and he calls the students idiots!

"I think I'm going to a healer today." I said, finally pulling on my robes. He looked shocked.

"What brought on this change of heart?" he asked, sitting on the bed.

"A worry about something." I frowned at my tummy again.

"What would that something be?" he asked.

"Well, if I come to kill you, you'll know." I snapped at him.

"Know what?" he said, hugging me as I tried to leave. I knew the only way to get him to stop annoying me was to tell him.

"About pregnancy, Severus." I called over my shoulder as I left. He gaped at me.

"You?" I ignored him. If my suspicions were correct, he was dead meat.

Unfortunately, I was right. I glared as the healer told me that I was four months pregnant, and I barely heard his lecture that I should've come sooner, that most woman know by their second month. I was sorely tempted to hex the man.

"Sir, I don't think that 'not coming' is the issue here- in fact, quite the opposite." I eventually snapped at him, and left him standing there, laughing.

I tried to control my temper; I really did (okay, not really) as I apparated back to Hogsmeade and walked to the castle. It didn't help my mood that it was raining. As soon as I entered the castle grounds I started asking if anyone knew where he was. As there were only a few students out, it didn't help, so I went to the staff room. He wasn't there, but Minerva was.

"Minerva." I nodded at her, not my customary happy greeting. She raised an eyebrow.

"Finally figured it out, Aurora?" she said. I glared at her in response. "I'll take that as a yes." She smiled at me.

"Where's Severus?" I ground out.

"I believe that he's teaching a class at the moment. Are you planning on... er... sharing the good news with him?" she said, trying to conceal a grin- and failing miserably.

I smiled at her evilly. "You could say that." She broke into laughter.

"Have fun!" she called after me as I ran to the DADA room. As I neared, I slowed down and pulled out my wand. The doors were closed.

"Perfect." I growled. I opened the doors with a bang, causing the entire second year class (and Severus) to look at me. I smiled evilly again. "Oh, Severus." I walked up to him, letting my wand hit the desks as I walked past. Each desk it hit, a small shower of red sparks would emit from it, making several students flinch away from me. The class watched me go up to their normally stoic professor, who was looking at me nervously.

"Sinistra. What do you want?" He asked as I walked up the rows.

"For you to be put to a long and painful death hopefully involving castration." I said. He paled.

"Don't I get time to run?" he whined quietly. I shook my head at him. "Alright, class, um... just... stay here, alright?" A student in the front row nodded mutely. I had reached his desk, and he stood up.

"You. Bastard!" I yelled at him, before slapping him with all my might. "I told you what would happen to you if you did this!" I made sure that nothing was revealed about our relationship. He blinked at me for before running, taking me by surprise. "Get back here!" I followed him, attempting to hit him with any spell I could. However, the bastard had years of practice from the Death Eaters and school, so he dodged most of my hexes. I finally disarmed and got him tied up in the Entrance Hall, not aware that several people had come out to see what all the commotion was about.

"Aurora, please don't kill me." He said as I advanced on him, my wand pointing at his chest, and his wand in my other hand.

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked.

"Erm, because it's been found that children with one parent- no matter how amazing and beautiful said parent is- are more inclined to do morally wrong things." He said quietly, fear showing in his eyes. I thought about it for a bit before releasing him. He stood up slowly and dusted off his robes.

"If you ever do that again, I WILL kill you, you hear me?" I said. He nodded.

"Erm, Professors?" We heard someone say. "What did he do?" We turned around to se the majority of the school staring at us. I saw Minerva biting her finger in an attempt to not laugh, and I winked at her.

"Professor Snape broke one of my prized telescopes." I invented. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Minerva duck into a classroom, probably to laugh her head off. "Now, don't you all have somewhere to be?" I asked the crowd, and most of them left, except for a small group of students. I glared at them.

"You kinda stole our Professor, Professor." A girl said in a small voice. I realized that this was Severus' class.

"You may go Severus. We'll continue our little chat later." I glared at him one last time before leaving.

Our 'conversation' did continue later that night. It stated with Severus taking my wand away from me and putting it out of my reach. He then made me sit down and explain.

"The little bump this morning was a baby. A four month fetus, to be exact." I growled at him. "I'm due in October." He smiled at me, but the smile was forced.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" he asked.

"Don't know, didn't ask. And I don't want to know. In fact, I don't want to be pregnant, either!" I yelled at him. He winced.

"Listen, I know it's not ideal, but..." he said. "I suppose we're going to have to make the best of it." I sighed. I knew that he was right. I didn't want to get rid of it, and I knew that the orphanages would soon be overflowing with children that had parents killed in the war. I didn't want to add another child to that.

"Okay. We have five months to choose names, make a room for the baby, and ready ourselves for parenthood." I eventually said. "Oh, and we won't tell anyone until we absolutely have to, understand?" I glared at him. He nodded, his dark eyes suddenly much more tired than normal.

"Let's go to bed." He gave me my wand back before getting under the covers. "And we can think about this tomorrow." I crawled in next to him.

* * *

"Blue." Severus said stubbornly.

"No, how about yellow?" I looked at the page of colors in front of me. "No, that's not good... oh, how about green?" I looked at him to se if he liked it.

"I like blue." He said, sneering at me.

"Severus, what if it's a girl?" I asked, exasperated.

"So?"

"Fine... how about this- it's sea green." I pointed to a color further down the page. He examined it.

"I don't know," he said, now glaring at the walls of the small room we were attempting to furnish for the baby. I was almost five months pregnant, and starting to show more noticeably. Thankfully, Minerva had a charm that made my robes conceal that, so nobody had guessed yet. However, I knew it wouldn't be long until someone figured it out.

"Severus, it has blue and green in it, okay?" I sighed. He glared at the color one more time before nodding reluctantly. I sighed in relief and flicked my wand, making the walls instantly turn sea green. Severus rolled the crib inside, looked at it, and made little fish appear on the crib's wood. Another flick, and they 'swam' around the wood. I hugged him.

"You are going to be a great daddy." I muttered into his chest. I felt him stiffen for a second before relaxing into my hug. I pushed away from him. "What is it?" I asked.

"I just never thought I would hear that directed at me." He said, smiling down the one- foot difference at me. However, I could see something flit across his eyes. I frowned, biting my lip, but chose to ignore it.

* * *

"Severus, we are NOT calling our child Anne Samantha." I crossed out his girl's name. It was a week after the color incident, and we were discussing names. We had each picked out two names, one girl's and one boy's each, and decide upon them together. My picks were Elizabeth Kelly and Benjamin Nelson, and he liked Anne Samantha and Matthew Adam.

"Why not?" he whined.

"Severus, her initials would be ASS." I replied.

He snorted. "I can see the problem. So, girls name- Elizabeth Kelly." I nodded.

"Okay, I like Adam, but not Matthew. What do you think of Benjamin Nelson?" I asked.

"I don't like Benjamin, but Nelson, I can deal with," he said. "Does Adam Nelson work with you?" I said the name aloud a few times, trying it out, but didn't like it.

"It doesn't flow easily. I like Nelson Adam better." I said. He thought about it then nodded. "Good- we have names out of the way." I sighed and stretched out on the bed, wishing I could get some sleep.

"Aurora, you realize that you have a class in two minutes?" he asked. I could hear his smirk as I jumped up, pulled on my robes, and dashed out the door.

* * *

I had taken a nap after dinner the day that IT happened, but had woken up to several bangs overhead. I looked around for Severus, but he wasn't there. I assumed that he had already gone up to see what all the commotion was about, so I pulled on a robe and ran upstairs. It was not, as I had thought, a few annoying students, but Death Eaters. I pulled out my wand and joined the fray, hoping Severus was okay. A few minutes after I joined in, I heard someone shouting. It sounded like Severus, so I looked around for him.

My momentary distraction allowed a Death Eater that was running past to hex me. There was a searing pain on my arm and grabbed it, and felt some blood pouring out of a large gash. I had no time to bandage it when the Death Eater turned back to me, ready to duel. I almost had him beat when he suddenly ran away. I swayed a bit and turned around, wondering what on earth had happened. All the Death Eaters had left. Minerva came hurrying up to me.

"Let's get you healed up. Poppy wants everyone in the Hospital Wing." She said. I blinked at her, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Her words weren't filtering through m brain properly. "Aurora? Are you..." I fainted. Huh. I guess that gash was worse than I thought it was.

I woke up to hear someone saying, "...killed Dumbledore." I opened my eyes. No. Dumbledore can't be dead. That's impossible.

"Snape." Minerva said. I sat up, but went unnoticed. "We all wondered... but he trusted.... always... _Snape_... I can't believe it...." she said, sounding faint. I had to say something; I had to find out what was going on.

"What about Severus?" I rasped. Minerva, Lupin, the Weasleys, Potter, Granger, that Delacour girl, and an unfamiliar brown- haired witch all looked at me.

"Snape killed Dumbledore. I saw it- Snape said the _Avada Kedavra_, and Dumbledore fell off the Astronomy Tower." Potter's voice was harsh. I blinked. I would NOT lose control in front of these students.

"Please, someone tell me that he's lying." I said, looking at Minerva. Nobody said anything. I heard a roaring sound in my ears, and passed out again. Control- lost.

* * *

After Poppy released me the next day, I went back to Sev- our rooms to move all my stuff back to my original rooms. I flicked my wand, and all of my clothes, books, and etcetera vanished. A piece of paper on the bed caught my eye. I picked it up, but almost dropped it when I recognized Severus' spiky handwriting.

_Aurora,_

_Please, forgive me. I will always love you, and our child. Please, believe me._

_Severus_

There was nothing else. I looked at the letter, torn between destroying it and keeping it. I eventually settled for putting it back on the bed before leaving.

* * *

I attended Albus' funeral with Minerva, her husband, and their extended family. It was a nice ceremony, but I couldn't forget that I was carrying the child of the murderer. I felt a small hand in mine, and looked down at Minerva's three-year- old grandson.

"It's okay. The boo- boo will be gone in just a bit." He said seriously and put a sloppy kiss on my hand. I gave a watery chuckle.

"Thank you." I smiled down at him. "It feels better already."

* * *

That summer, I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for a month. Then, on the night of August first, I received a patronus from Minerva that told me that the Ministry had fallen to Lord Voldemort. I flooed her at her house as soon as I could.

"Minerva, what's going on?" I asked her.

"I just received word that the Ministry has been taken over by Death Eaters. Voldemort can do whatever he wants now." She said. I blinked at her.

"And Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Will reopen. I only hope that They don't take that as well." She sighed heavily, and I pulled out of the fire to do some thinking in my own room.

* * *

However, the Death Eaters did take over Hogwarts, a few days before term started. I was already there, setting up the baby's new room, when it happened. It was a very quiet takeover, very clean. All I could see from my window was three people and Voldemort entering the castle. I rushed down the stairs from my Tower to help in any way I could. By the time I got to the Entrance Hall, the Carrows had already immobilized Minerva. Severus stood a few steps behind his master and sneered at everything. I stepped out of the corner that I was semi- hiding in, my wand pointed at the traitor.

"Stop. Let her go." I said, trying to remain calm. Voldemort laughed at me.

"You think that you would be able to defeat us?" he hissed. "In your current state?" My eyes flicked briefly to Voldemort's face, and then I looked back at Severus. I flicked my wand at Minerva and untied her. Voldemort's eyes widened.

"I could take him out with a simple castration charm." I thought mutinously. I thought I saw Severus' mouth twitch. "You'd better not be reading my mind, you traitor." I thought at him, just in case.

"I would rather you not get hurt. I believe that you are pureblood, and the child could be brought to see the correct way." Voldemort said quietly. "This is not a democracy. Hogwarts is now under my rule." I gasped._ Crap._ I thought. "Severus will be headmaster."

Double crap.

* * *

I played with my fork, wondering when the first years would enter. Minerva was with them, probably trying to calm them down after half their group was taken away for not having pure enough blood. I was happy that she was doing that, however, this left nobody between Severus and I. I got bored with my fork, so I gazed around at the Hall. I saw Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom talking at the Gryffindor Table. Weasley looked up at the staff table to glare at Severus, then saw me looking at her. I smiled and winked, and she grinned broadly back, confirming my suspicions that she and Longbottom were up to something.

I rubbed my belly. You could see a slight bulge through the charmed robes if you looked really closely. I _was_ going to tell the staff, but as the Carrows would no doubt do something... unpleasant, I decided to not tell anyone just yet. Apparently, they hadn't been listening to Voldemort when he took over, because they were under the impression that I was fat.

"Are you hungry, Professor?" asked Severus from my left. I stopped rubbing my belly and flicked him off under the table, but otherwise ignored him. Thankfully, Minerva entered with the first years soon after that incident. There were only sixteen of them, as opposed to the normal mid- twenties.

"When I call your name, please step forward. Amanta, Becca." No one moved. Minerva frowned. "Amanta, Becca." She repeated.

"Please, professor." A small girl said. "Becca didn't make it to Hogwarts." Minerva swallowed and nodded, looking nonplussed.

"Alright, if the person I called isn't here, if someone could shake their head so that we can do this as quickly as possible. Um, Carlson, Chad." A short red-haired boy stepped up and put the hat on his head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat roared. The Hufflepuff table cheered, and the boy ran over to them. As the sorting continued, it became evident that nine almost- students had been taken. I let my gaze roam over the Hall once more. It seemed that they had taken older students as well, because every table, excepting Slytherin, was a lot less crowded. I closed my eyes for a moment to collect myself. I forced a smile on my face and told myself to not think of what they would do to the students. Once the sorting was done, Minerva took her seat between Severus and me.

"There are so few of them." She murmured to me. I nodded, ignoring, like the majority of the people in the Hall, Severus' speech. I only wanted for food to be put on the table. As soon as he had sat down, every single plate in the Great Hall filled with food- every plate, except the ones near Severus. I bit back a chuckle as I realized that even the House Elves were against him. None of us teachers passed him anything, and the Carrows were too far away to be of any help.

"Pass the turkey, Aurora?" Minerva asked. I gave the dish to her, and she put it down so that it wasn't near Severus. I smirked at her, and she smiled innocently. "So, how are you feeling?" she asked as I spooned some potatoes onto my plate.

"Hungry, and I've been craving odd foods." I said. "The other night, I woke up with a craving for cheese. I don't like cheese at all." I pursed my lips. "I'm also having a hard time getting to sleep. Peanut here likes to kick." I sighed. "I can't wait for October." I sighed.

"Why are you excited for October?" asked Professor Vector, who had obviously caught only the last part of our conversation.

"Oh, Halloween, the nice crisp wind, just everything about October makes me happy." I lied. She nodded and returned to her food.

* * *

Before I knew it, the school had become little more than a Death Eater breeding ground. Weasley, Longbottom, and Lovegood seemed to be the leaders of the rebel movement, and had been covering the school in pro- Harry slogans. Minerva was scared for them, I could tell.

My main problem was the fact that you could tell that I was pregnant by looking at me, although I looked five months pregnant, not eight. I knew I had to tell the staff that I trusted, although they probably knew, anyway. I kept putting it off until Vector confronted me about it one day after our Death Eater friends had left the staff room.

"Aurora, are you... pregnant?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot. I looked up from a star chart one of my students had drawn for homework. Everyone looked at me, waiting for my answer.

"Yes." I breathed. I took off my charmed robes. They gasped at my obvious belly. "Eight months in. I'm sorry for hiding it, but our little friends..." I trailed off, and they nodded.

"What are you going to do when you go into labor?" asked Poppy.

"I was going to floo to St. Mungos, but then they closed off the floo, so I have no clue." I said sheepishly.

"Well, if we take some necessary precautions, you can use the Hospital Wing." She said. I smiled at her in relief.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." I said.

"What would be wonderful?" asked a voice from behind me. I threw on my robes before turning to face Severus.

"I had offered Aurora some tea, and she said that it would be wonderful." Poppy said, passing a cup of tea to me. I smiled at her.

"Of course she did." Snape sneered at us and glanced at my stomach before leaving.

"Is Severus the father?" Victoria asked. I closed my eyes and counted to ten to calm myself.

"Why would you think that?" I asked her.

"Oh, I accidently heard you two last year, near the end of school. You were fighting over a color." She said, waving an airy hand. "I put the rest together on my own."

"Yes, it is Severus'." I admitted. I heard a few mutters. "However, when he showed the world that he was a murdering bastard, I decided that he would have nothing to do with it." Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. My fellow teachers nodded.

"And the students? You can't just show up with a baby one day." Said Filius.

"I was planning on telling them after I told you all, so, today." I said. "Speaking of classes..." I looked at the clock. "They start soon." We scattered. I went to my tower, first to get some new robes (a pair that had no charms on them), and then to my classroom to teach my small sixth year NEWT class. A few students stared at me openly, while the others were more discreet about it. I smiled at them.

"Yes, it's true." I said. "I am having a child, I'm due next month, and I don't know if it's girl or a boy." I answered all the normal questions before anyone had asked. "Now, on to our lesson..."

* * *

October came crashing in like a pile of bricks. We had our first student faint from over-exposure to the Cruciatus Curse; Longbottom came to class with several bruises after a Muggle Studies class; and I gave birth. I went into labor during my midnight class on October twenty- sixth.

"Weasley, Lovegood." I called my two favorite students over. I handed them each a piece of parchment. "Weasley, take that to Snape, Lovegood, if you could get Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall, please." They nodded and ran out the door. "Quickly, please! The rest of the class, you are dismissed for tonight." They left quietly. My letter to Severus was a note telling him that my teaching services would be unavailable for the next few days, as I had to take care of some urgent business, and the ones to Minerva and Poppy informed them that I had gone into labor. I started to the Hospital Wing, and after only six minutes, I reached my destination. Poppy and Minerva were there already.

My contractions were about thirty minutes apart, and still slightly weak, so Minerva guessed that I had about ten to twelve hours until the baby actually came out. I glared at her as I paced, attempting to speed the process up a bit. Unfortunately for all involved, it did take another eleven hours, ten minutes, and seventeen seconds (give or take a few milliseconds)- not that I was counting, of course. Several students had come and gone in the Hospital Wing with various ailments, mostly cuts and bruises. Weasley came to see me, and asked how I was doing. I had just said that I was fine when another contraction hit. She laughed, obviously not believing me before having to leave for Dark Arts. We wished each other luck.

As my contractions increased their frequency, Poppy led me into a soundproof room.

"Why am I in here?" I asked, sweating.

"Because you will, no doubt, swear, and I'd rather the students not learn a lot of new swears." She said primly. The actual giving birth part was rather short. It hurt like hell, and I almost broke a rubber ball I was squeezing- Minerva had a class to teach, so her hand was inaccessible. I stared at my daughter as Poppy was cleaning her off and cutting her umbilical cord. I reached out my arms for her.

"What will her name be?" Poppy asked as she filled out the birth certificate.

"Elizabeth Kelly." I whispered, stroking my daughter's cheek tenderly.

"Erm... last name?" Poppy said after writing her first and middle name down. I bit my lip. At first, I was going to put Snape, but in light of recent events...

"Sinistra." I decided. Poppy left the room, and I curled up with my new daughter, the only family member I had left. She was beautiful, a perfect mix of Severus and me- although she had inherited his nose, the poor girl.

**Elizabeth Kelly Sinistra- born October twenty- seventh, 1997**

* * *

I brought Beth with me everywhere. I didn't want to leave her in my rooms, where someone could get to her, and she needed to be fed every few hours, so it would've been impractical to not bring her with me. The first day after I had been released, at breakfast, Severus saw his daughter for the first time. Unfortunately, the only seat open was right next to him. I put Beth's carrier down in between him and me. I swear that the entire school was watching us. He sneered at me as I took me seat.

"I see that your urgent business was giving birth." He said. I smiled falsely at him.

"Yes, Headmaster." I put heavy emphasis on his ill-gotten title. "I gave birth to a wonderful child, named Elizabeth Kelly Sinistra, whose only fault is her father. You see, he's a murdering bastard that has no place in her life, or mine." I had the satisfaction of knowing how deeply that would cut him.

"You kept the name." he whispered, and I heard his normal coldness vanish, replaced with sadness and something else- maybe love or adoration? He sounded like a lost little boy. I wished that I could just take him in my arms and forget that anything had happened, but I didn't.

"Of course I did." I said. "It was my idea, you fool."

* * *

I soon realized how hard it was to take care of a small baby and teach. I would often have to interrupt a class because Beth was fussing. The kids didn't mind- for the majority of them, it was time to study or sleep. For some, it was a chance to coo over Beth.

It wasn't extremely obvious whom the father was- I explained the dark hair and eyes as some great- grandparent's, but the nose was hard to explain. There had been so many jokes about it through the years that it was his most distinguishing trait. All I could do was hope that nobody noticed, and pray, like the rest of the anti- Voldemort people, that salvation would soon arrive.

In December, Lovegood was taken, and then Weasley didn't come back after Spring Break. After those two, Longbottom disappeared, throwing the Carrows into fits of rage. It told us that Longbottom had escaped, and we were glad. He had been looking worse for the wear as the year went on. After him, students were disappearing like treacle tart that was placed near Potter. We lost the majority of Gryffindor and about a third of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I had a student from each year ask for lots of extra copies of the homework assignment, which I gave them with no question. The other teachers told me that students had been doing the same to them, so we assumed that someone was making the missing students do their homework. The best thing was that the homework was also turned in with no names. I checked them, and gave the assignments back to the student that had asked for them with a wink.

Minerva and I soon started to go to each other's quarters to listen to Potter Watch. It was a good way to get the real news, and sometimes get a good laugh if one or more of the Weasley twins were speaking. A few weeks after Spring Break, we heard young Weasley talking about how things were going in the school's new regime, and we were relieved that she was safe. We also made sure that the rest of the students were as safe as could be, given the current state of affairs.

* * *

The first of May started like a normal day. Beth woke me up, I fed her, then took a shower. Then I snuggled in bed with her for a bit, then changed her, and finally dressed her, dress myself, and finally go up to the Great Hall for my breakfast. Beth was now eight months old, and eating semi-solid food. It was nice to be able to just bring a few things of baby food around instead of constantly pumping my boobs.

It started as a nice day. The day was warm, and several students relaxed in the warm sun. I went to the Astronomy Tower with a bit of early lunch, as I only had practical lessons today. I intended to spread out a blanket and spend time with Beth, but after I had hiked up all the way, I was met with a surprising sight. Severus was hunched over near the wall, his head in his arms.

"Headmaster." Severus looked up at me, and I saw that he had tear streaks down his face. "What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same, Aurora." I stiffened at the use of my name.

"I was planning on enjoying the beauty of the day with my daughter." I said, setting out my blanket and lunch. His presence wasn't going to stop me from having a good lunch.

"I was... remembering." He said, hesitating over the last word.

"Remembering last year? Well, it's a bit to late for remorse and tears now, sir. You already killed him." I was blunt with him- he deserved no sympathy for what he did.

"Yes." He said simply.

"Well, it's intruding on my time up here. Are you almost done?" I asked rudely.

"Aurora." He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "I love you." He looked like he was about to kiss me.

"You have a funny way of showing it." I growled at him, jerking out of his grip, wishing that his touch didn't send tingles down my body. He sighed and walked away, leaving me more confused than ever.

* * *

That night, everything came to head. I was woken in the night by a silver doe patronus. It spoke in Severus' voice.

"Aurora, the Dark Lord is coming to the castle. Take Beth and run!" it said before vanishing. I stared at the spot it had occupied, shocked at the news it had brought, and that Severus would have sent that. I had barely had time to fully realize what Severus had said when a silver tabby cat streaked in.

"Aurora, Voldemort is coming. Harry Potter and his friends are here; we are going to fight them. Come to the Great Hall, bring Beth and anything you need for her." I continued staring, but I finally realized what was going on.

"Crap." I muttered before leaping out of bed. I packed some clothes, nappies, and food for Beth while I pulled on some clothes. After everything was ready, I picked up Beth and put her in a carrier and put the now- small bag in my pocket. I was almost out the door when I decided to put a shield charm on her, just in case. Beth stirred, but thankfully didn't wake up. I ran to the Great Hall, and found the entire school there, all of the students in their pajamas. I joined a little bevy of teachers at the foot of the dais that held the Head Table.

"Does anyone know what's going on?" I asked Victoria Vector. She shook her head.

"I just got a patronus from Minerva, saying that Voldemort was coming. We all did." She said, looking at the dais. Minerva was in deep conversation with a tall black man. I vaguely recognized him as Kingsley Shacklebolt- I had met him at the ministry when I registered Beth's birth.

"Attention!" Minerva said loudly. The hall quieted immediately. "Lord Voldemort is coming to our castle. Those under the age of seventeen, you must leave. Those of you who are over seventeen, you may stay and fight, or you may leave with the younger students." She said. Suddenly, a high, cold voice sounded, interrupting Minerva; Beth woke up, crying. I took her in my arms and tried to soothe her as the assembled people listened to what Voldemort had to say.

"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood." The voice seemed to creep under your skin, and penetrate your very soul. "Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched, Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded." There was a pause. "You have until midnight." Everyone stood still, waiting for someone to make the first move.

"But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" shrieked a silly seventh year Slytherin, Pansy Parkingson. She was pointing at someone, and the entire Hall turned to look at who ever it was. Harry Potter stood there, looking a bit wrong- footed. Suddenly, the majority of the Gryffindors stood up and made a wall between Potter and the Slytherin table.

"Thank you, Miss Parkingson. You will leave the castle first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow." Minerva said crisply, obviously annoyed at the girl. I turned my attention back to Beth, who had decided that she was hungry now. I had just finished feeding her when I felt a presence at my shoulder. I turned to find Minerva.

"Minerva. What do you want me to do?" I asked,

"I want you to leave. Beth needs you." She said, playing with Beth fingers a bit. I sighed.

"I thought that's what you would say." I said. She looked around to see if anyone was listening in. Nobody was near, as the other teachers had begun getting the students organized or getting their instructions from Shacklebolt. Potter had disappeared.

"Severus dropped this as he was leaving." She whispered in my ear, and pressed something into my hand. "I think you should read it, too." She turned around and went back to preparing for the battle. I, on the other hand, followed the flood of students that were leaving the castle. (I also made sure that no underage students were trying to stay behind.)

The man in the pub didn't look too happy that there were so many students coming through. I smiled at him and his two companions, an old lady that I recognized as Longbottom's grandmother, and the girl that Lupin had married, Tonks Lupin would be her name now.

"Me and Beth are the last ones. The passage is open- thanks for letting us through." I said, not wanting to be rude.

"Finally!" he exclaimed before running through. I turned my attention back to the children crammed in the small pub.

"Alright, how many of you know how to do a shield charm?" I called to them. They were already quiet from nerves, so I didn't need to get their attention. About twenty people raised their hands, and I sighed. If only there were more of them...

"Okay, if you could cast some around yourself and everyone near you, please?" Slughorn boomed. He was the only other teacher here- the Carrows and Severus had obviously went to help Voldemort, and the rest of the teachers were fighting with the Order and older students.

"Hey, who's this?" said a voice from behind me. I jumped and pulled out my wand while spinning around.

"Oh! Sorry, Charlie. You startled me." I said, lowering my wand from Charlie Weasley's face.

"It's alright." He said. "Sorry I'm late- I came here as soon as I could."

"Listen, do you know what we can do with these children?" Charlie looked around, clearly unsure.

"We could patronus their parents, asking for help and for them to take them home. Maybe a few families would take the muggleborns and those whose parents can't get to them, for one reason or another." he said finally. I nodded.

"Horace!" I called to the potions master over the heads of the now- restless students.

"Coming." He waded though a few first years to the three of us. "What do we do with the children?" he asked as soon as he was near us.

"Charlie here has a plan." I said. Charlie told Slughorn what he had suggested while I played with Beth.

"Alright, this could work." Slughorn said, making me look up from Beth sleeping face. "Let's get to work." I took out my wand and cast a patronus, then told it to tell the parents of the students that Hogwarts was fighting, and they should pick up their children. I sent it off, and watched, slightly panicked, as it split into dozens of silvery, vapor- like eagles. Now we just had to wait for the message to get out, and for the parents to respond. It was nearly thirty minutes before the first parents showed up. Slughorn filled them in as I helped calm the students.

I had almost finished calming some third year Hufflepuffs when Voldemort's voice rang out again, high and cold as ever.

"You have fought valiantly." The voice said. "Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses." There were several sobs at this, everyone wondering who had died. I felt my blood run cold, thinking of Lupin, Minerva, Poppy... no, there were surely still alive. "If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured." I bit my lip. How many were dead, and how many injured?_ Please._ I thought to myself._ Let the numbers be low._

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour." Voldemort finished his speech, and it seemed that the entire world was silent for a moment.

"He won't actually do it, will he?" Dezmelda Robbins, a fifth year Gryffindor, broke the silence. This caused everyone to debate if he would do it or not. I noticed that there were a lot more adults in the pub.

"Who are these?" I asked Luna.

"The adults?" he asked, looking up at me. "They're from the village. They are going to fight with us." I smiled, glad for the additional support. "Some more parents have also arrived, and many have apparated some children home." I sighed in relief that some children were safe.

Over the next hour (give or take a few minutes), more and more adults came in. After everyone had been apparated away- many people took their children's friends or teammates- there were about fifty adults, all ready to fight for Hogwarts.

"No, you stay here." Charlie stopped me from going out the door with everyone else. "I'll send you a patronus when it's over, one way or another." I nodded and sat at the bar. I sat for a few minutes, then got up and paced, unable to keep still.

They had just left when Voldemort's voice rang out gain. "Harry Potter is dead." I gasped. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be. "He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay don your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone." I wouldn't believe this, not until Charlie sent confirmation.

"The battle is won." Voldemort continued his speech. ""You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There will be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you will be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together." There was a finality in his voice, leaving no room for argument. I didn't want to believe him, so I decided to wait here until Charlie or someone sent a patronus, telling me what happened.

I got a butterbeer form under the bar to drink, knowing that firewhiskey would be less than safe with Beth, but needing something to do. As I was getting out coins to pay, my hand brushed a piece of paper. I remembered that I had shoved the note from Severus in there as I was leaving. I pulled it out, not sure of what to expect from it.

_Aurora,_ he had written

_I don't expect to live through the night. When the battle is over- and hopefully, Potter wins- go to Potter and ask him for the gift that he got from Professor Snape. He'll understand. It's not dangerous, so don't worry._

_Give Beth kisses from me,_

_Severus_

_PS- I love you_

I swallowed thickly, not sure of what to think. It seemed that he wanted Potter and our side to win, but he was a Death Eater- wasn't he? And what was the gift that he gave to Potter? I sat down, my forgotten butterbeer still in my other hand. I put Beth on a table and tickled her belly absently, still thinking about the letter.

I nearly dropped my butterbeer when a silver mule appeared in front of me. I stared at it, waiting for its message.

"Get up to the castle quickly." Gabbi's voice said. I smiled and let out a whoop of celebration. We had won! Harry had done it! I put Beth back on her carrier and ran as fast as I could to the castle. I reached its great stone steps, and really saw the damage. The doors had been torn from its hinges, and the doorway was crumbling. There were splotches of blood everywhere. I almost tripped over a body. I looked down and gasped. It was the faintly moving body Emilia Dokbet; a sixth year Ravenclaw who had plans to become an astrologer. She had a giant slash down her chest, from which copious amounts of blood was seeping. I knelt down next to her, careful to not squish Beth.

"Hey Professor." She said weakly. "I don't think I'll be able to get my homework done, or take that test." She tried to put a smile on her face, but failed.

"Don't worry. I still think you can pass the class." I took her hand. "And your name is still on the list for Le Academié de Astrologique." I felt tears sliding down my face.

"Tell them that I decided to change my plans, alright?" She asked. I nodded, the tears coming faster now. She laughed a bit, and slipped away in the space of two breaths. I closed her eyes and levitated her body in front of me as I continued on in silence.

When I reached the Great Hall, I put her with the rest of the bodies. I saw Charlie with his family, huddled around a form. I went over to them, and saw Fred Weasley. Not knowing what to say, I merely patted his arm before moving on. The next body was that Tonks Lupin- I didn't know her that well. And then, next to her, was Lupin himself. I bit my lip- we hadn't known each that well, but I knew that he was a really great guy- he was always nice to me, even though I was dating his nemesis when we actually got to know each other.

I didn't want to see any more death, so I looked for Minerva. I found her getting healed. I strode over to her.

"Minerva." I said, and she looked up, looking more tired than I had ever seen her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm fine." She hesitated, and I raised my eyebrows. "Severus isn't, though."

"What?"

She nodded her head to the form of a bent-over Poppy. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione carried him in here just after His second message." She said. I bit my lip, unsure of what to do. "Go to him." She said. I took a deep breath and walked over to Poppy.

"He'll live." She said, not looking up from her work. "He was bitten by Voldemort's snake, but it missed his arteries by a centimeter. He might not be able to talk anymore, though- his larynx was crushed." I nodded, trying to not think about how closely he missed death.

"Why did Potter save him?" I asked Poppy after a short silence.

"He killed Dumbledore under the old man's own orders- I don't know the full story, you'd have to ask Potter about that." She said, pouring a potion on his neck. It smoked where the potion hit it, and Poppy stood up.

"I've done all I can. He should be fine. Call one of the healers if anything changes, will you?" she waked away, and I took one of his hands in mine, sighing. Beth stirred a little, so I took her out and put her next to Severus. I summoned a toy for her to play with. I was so absorbed with her that I didn't notice Severus stirring.

* * *

Severus

I woke up to a throbbing pain in my neck. I was confused. If I was in heaven, shouldn't I not feel pain? Unless I was in Hell.... that was possible, considering what I've done. I opened my eyes. Woah. Why was Aurora here? And Beth? Don't tell me that they're dead, too.

"Aurora?" I tried to say. No sound came out, and she didn't notice my attempt to speak- she was entertaining Beth. I frowned and looked around. If this was heaven, it looked a lot like the Great Hall, with a lot of people in it, most sitting around and crying. I turned back to Aurora.

"Aurora." I tried again, but still no sound. I wriggled my finger, testing my motor functions, and realized that I could move. I moved my hand to Aurora's knee and touched it softly. She jumped.

"Severus! You're awake!" she said, smiling at me. I wondered why she wasn't mad at me. "How do you feel?" So I wasn't in heaven or Hell. I must still be alive, then. I touched my throat and felt two marks. That must be where Nagini bit me. I then realized a problem- I couldn't talk to her. I thought a bit before coming up with a solution. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look in my eyes.

_I can't talk._ I thought to her. _But otherwise, I feel okay._

"Severus? Did I just hear you in my head?" she asked. I nodded. "I need to get Poppy, I'll be right back, okay?" I nodded again. "Make sure Elizabeth doesn't do anything silly." I looked at her, surprised, but she was already walking away. I looked at Beth, unsure of what to do. Beth looked back. She was adorable, and I felt a rush of affection towards her. I smoothed a lock of black hair away from her face, and she gurgled at me. I smiled a bit and offered her my finger. She grabbed it and waved her hand around, still gurgling. She dropped it and rolled into me. I rolled her from her side back to her back. She suddenly got a face, the one that told you that a person was abut to cry. I hastily picked her up, not wanting Aurora to think I was bad at this. It wasn't easy to hold her while I was lying down, so I sat up, gently rocking her. She calmed down almost at once, and I gave her my finger again. She grabbed it, and stuck it in her mouth. I did nothing to remove it, relishing the time with my daughter. I heard steps from behinds me, and turned my head. I winced at the pain that went through my neck at the movement.

"Erm, hello, professor." Said a voice. "I... I just wanted to make sure you were alright." The person walked into my line of sight. It was Granger. "I know you wouldn't expect me to care, but you were loosing a lot of blood when we carried you in." I blinked. It seems that she, Potter, and Weasley had carried me from the Shrieking shack after I gave Potter the memories. "So, you know, I wasn't sure if... if you had... you know." She was obviously thrown off by my lack of response. I stared at her and used Legilimency again.

_Thank you, Miss Granger. I am quite well. However, I am unable to speak. Sinistra is looking for Madam Pomfrey._ Her eyes widened, but she took it all in stride.

"I'm glad you're feeling well, even if you have no voice." She said. "If you don't mind me asking, whose child is that?"

"Mine." Said a voice from behind her. It was Aurora with Poppy. "Do you know where I can find Mr. Potter, Miss Granger? I have something to ask him." I looked at her, questioning. She mouthed 'memories' to me and I was grateful that Minerva had given her the message. "If you could continue holding Beth, please, Severus?" I nodded.

"I think he's in the Headmaster's office, professor." Miss Granger said. Aurora nodded and left as Poppy went to examine my neck.

* * *

Aurora

I left Severus with Beth while I went to the Headmaster's office. I was almost at the stone gargoyles when I realized that I had no clue what the password was. Fortunately, I was spared making a fool of myself by the appearance of Potter himself.

"Professor Sinistra." He said, surprised.

"Hello, Potter. I think you have some memories that Professor Snape gave you?" I got right to the point, and he looked taken aback.

"Erm, yes. How is he?" he asked.

"He's mostly okay, but unable to talk." I said.

"That's good. Bt, how do you know about the memories?"

"Severus left me a note, that I was supposed to get them from you." I said.

"May I see the note?" he asked suspiciously.

I blushed. "I'd rather you didn't." I said.

He shrugged. "Alright. They're still in the pensive." I nodded and went up the stairs.

The pensive was sitting out, just as he had said, on Dumbledore's desk. I touched it with my finger, and was sucked in immediately.

_Severus was standing near Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office._

"_I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. Hi plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me." Dumbledore was saying. I raised my eyebrows as Severus sat down across from the Headmaster._

"_The Dark Lord doesn't expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius's recent failures. Slow torture for Draco's parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price." I shudder at the boy's fate. How could they talk about this so nonchalantly? I suddenly noticed that Dumbledore's hand was blackened. So it was sometime last year. I busied myself looking for a date, but found none. I only knew that it wasn't school- time, as there were no students in the yard outside of Dumbledore's window. I returned my attention to the conversation._

"_Are you intending to let him kill you?" Severus said, sounding astonished. They must be talking about Draco Malfoy._

"_Certainly not." Dumbledore said. "You must kill me." I blinked. Had Dumbledore just said that?_

"_Would you like me to do it now?" Severus asked. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?" I could hear the sarcasm rolling off him._

"_Oh, not quite yet." Dumbledore smiled. "I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight, we can be sure that it will happen within the year." Dumbledore raised his hand._

"_If you don't mind dying, why not let Draco do it?" Severus asked._

"_The boy's soul is not yet so damaged." Dumbledore said. "I would not have it ripped apart on my account."_

"_And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?" Severus asked. I thought that I had seen enough, so I raised my arm._

I came out on the floor of the Headmaster's office, tears running down my face. I raised myself up, knowing what I had to do. I ran down to the Great Hall, my robes streaming behind me. I ran right up to Severus, whom Poppy had just left.

"You IDIOT!" I yelled at him as soon as I had sat down. Everyone in earshot (which was everyone) looked at us. "Why didn't you just tell me?" I smacked his head, not really mad at him, but unsure of how else to berate him. He blinked at me, fear and amusement showing in his eyes. I bit my lip, trying to not cry as I stared at him. "Well?" I cried. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

He didn't say anything. He cupped my chin tenderly, and at first I thought he was going to send me his thoughts again, but he didn't. Instead, he kissed me, as tenderly as ever. I forgot that everyone was looking, that he hadn't told me anything bout Dumbledore's plan, forgot everything. I just melted into his kiss and threw my arms around him.

* * *

Ginny

What the hell just happened? Did Snape just... what?

* * *

Aurora

I pulled myself off Severus and smiled. "You're still an idiot for not telling me." He nodded, shrugging. I heard a small cry and realized that we had kind of crushed Beth. I took her from Severus.

"Say hi to your daddy, Beth." I cooed to her. She didn't say anything, not that she knew how, but she waved her fist at Severus. He smiled a bit at her.

"How's your voice?" I asked finally pretending that the entire Hall wasn't looking at us. He touched his throat and shook his head. I looked at him, knowing what he wanted to do.

_I'll never be able to speak again._ He thought. _I should probably learn a way of communicating._ I nodded at him.

"Sign language, maybe?" I suggested. He shrugged, obviously thinking it over. "Right. So, are you cleared for movement?" He nodded again.

_My wounds were not so great as they looked._ He thought._ I can go._

"Good." I put Beth back in her carrier before helping Severus up.

* * *

The next school year was canceled, as some teachers (Slughorn) had left, and anyone who had the credentials to fill in the spots didn't want to come in. Also, there was the actual school to rebuild. Over half of it was damaged in some way. Only the dungeons had remained untouched.

Therefore, on September 1st, 2000, we had an overflow of students. We the 97-98 seventh year students who hadn't finished their year, the 98-99 seventh year students that didn't have a school year, and the two years worth of first years also had to start school. There were also the muggleborns who had been in hiding. It was a whole mess, and I felt bad for Minerva, who had to sort it all out.

Our teaching staff went like this; Binns, as ever, taught History of Magic; Hagrid took over Care of Magical Creatures; Flitwick still taught Charms; Pomona taught Herbology, with Longbottom as her assistant; Sybill and Firenze taught Divination still; I continued teaching Astronomy; Victoria taught Ancient Runes; Severus started teaching Potions again, using his wand to write what he would've said in the air with bright letters, or sign language if someone knew it (our main form of communicating was still mind-to-mind); Bill Weasley quit his job at Gringotts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, as his wife was pregnant, and he didn't want to have to keep moving around if he had a family; Charlie Adams, an American, taught Muggle Studies; Transfiguration was taught by Danielle Championne, a French woman; and Arithmancy was taught by Annie McElliot.

* * *

Four years later (2004)

After we got married (on August eleventh, 2001), I asked Severus if he wanted more children. His initial reaction was to almost faint from fear, thinking that I was pregnant again. However, once I convinced him that that I wasn't, he calmed down enough to tell me that yes, he would like more, if I did.

So, it really shouldn't have been such a surprise for him when I marched into the Great Hall during breakfast and punched him.

"You'd better not kill anyone this time!" I yelled at him. He looked so confused, the poor guy. I abuse him so much.

'What the hell did I do?' he signed, unable to use Legilimency, as I was glaring at some point on his chest.

"Last time, I told you that I would kill you if you did this again." I said, still not looking at him. Minerva finally took pity on him.

"Aurora." She said, barely holding in her laughter. "I think you'd better go elsewhere and explain."

Seven months later, Lukas Severus Snape was born. He was accompanied into this world by a surprise- his sister, Amanda Aurora Snape.

* * *

Seven years after that

"Sinistra, Elizabeth." Filius called out. I crossed my fingers as the hat talked with our daughter for a minute.

"SLYTHERIN!" it called. I frowned as I felt Severus' hand on my leg, face-up. I could tell without looking that he was smirking. I pulled a galleon out of my pocket and put it in his hand.

"Know it all." I muttered to him. He just looked even smugger, and I pinched his wrist in retaliation, as I was unable to stick my tongue out at him. He flinched, and I realized, too late, that it was his left wrist.

'It's aright.' He signed under the table. 'It hasn't hurt for eleven years.'

**THE END**

A/N: This started out as a short one-shot of Sinistra yelling at Snape for getting her preggers, but quickly evolved into more. I hope you liked it! I don't own any of the characters, and anything you recognize from Book 7 isn't mine.

Tummy is such a fun word, isn't it? So is stummy. It's a combo of tummy and stomach. Say it with me! Stummy. Stummy. Review. Stummy. Stummy. Stummy. Yay! Thank you! :D


End file.
